The statement from the Fed lead investors to focus again on major economic issues. The US economy suffered a sharp slowdown in Q3 to grow only 1.50%, significantly less than the 3.90% observed in the previous quarter. Estimates of economists pointed to an increase of 1.60%. However, this variation is less serious than it appears. The economic slowdown was mainly due to the sharp fall in inventories (almost 50%). This effect is equivalent to about 1.44% of the economy. This is likely to be temporary in that, depleted inventories will need to be replenish in the coming months, thus making a positive contribution to GDP.